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Hickenlooper to create task force on Colorado marijuana legalization

Marijuana plants flourish under the lights at a grow house in Denver. (AP | Ed Andrieski)

Gov. John Hickenlooper will create a task force to deal with the fallout from the state's legalization of marijuana use, possession and sales.

Eric Brown, the governor's spokesman, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the yet-to-be-formed task force will work "to identify the policy, legal and procedural issues that need to be resolved related to Amendment 64."

"The task force will be charged with offering suggestions for legislative and executive actions that need to be taken for the effective and efficient implementation of the amendment," Brown said.

The task force is to include state officials, lawmakers, marijuana advocates and other "stakeholders" — likely a reference to law-enforcement, drug-treatment and community representatives.

More details on the task force will be announced soon, Brown said.

The task force will need to get down to business quickly so the state can meet the deadlines set out in Amendment 64, which legalizes use and possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for those 21 and older. It also allows for commercial marijuana sales through specially licensed stores, and the state Department of Revenue must have rules for those stores in place by July 1 and begin issuing licenses for them Jan. 1, 2014.

That means lawmakers will have only one legislative session — the one beginning in early January — to write laws governing the new stores. And Revenue Department officials will have to hold a hearing on proposed rules for the stores sometime in the spring.